Dev Blog: Level Cap Increase

With so many new and exciting changes coming with Module 6: Elemental Evil, we couldn’t resist the chance to sit down with the Neverwinter development team and chat about the upcoming level cap increase.

On April 7th, players will be able to begin making their way toward Neverwinter’s new level cap of 70. Any Overflow Experience characters currently have will be stored and returned to them upon reaching level 70, where they will again have the chance to obtain Overflow Experience. The Overflow Experience rewards will also be improved, giving players higher quality refinement items in addition to Power Points. Much like before, players will still be able to gain experience points by invoking and completing Leadership Profession tasks. With this new level cap, character powers will also have a 4th rank available. This new level of power will be greatly needed when it comes to tackling the end-game content released with Module 6.

Adventurers will see a change in the available PvE dungeons coming with Elemental Evil. Epic Dungeons will now require a party of 5 characters at level 70. These dungeons have been reworked to provide more of a challenge to players and require a more diverse party in terms of classes. The mechanics of some boss battles have also been tweaked to add an extra element of difficulty to the fight. Non-epic dungeons, also known as “Leveling Dungeons”, have been changed so that the content scales to the level of each character. This enables characters of widely varying levels to challenge these dungeons together and the rewards each player receives will be appropriate for their level. In addition to having scaled encounters, these Leveling Dungeons will only require a party of 3, making teamwork more crucial than ever. Players can expect to see reworked versions of Cragmire Crypts, Temple of the Spider, and Grey Wolf Den released with Elemental Evil. The Epic Skirmishes Kessell’s Retreat and Shores of Tuern as well as the campaign-related dungeons (Malabog’s Castle, Valindra’s Tower, and Lair of Lostmauth) will also be available. More reworked dungeons will be included with subsequent updates.

Companions will also be getting a raise in their level cap. Previously capped at level 30, companions could only be upgraded to epic quality. Elemental Evil will now allow players to level all companions to 40 and increase their quality to legendary. Once increased to legendary, these companions will possess new passive powers that make them better at their roles (e.g. Leader, Striker, Defender, and Controller) and have a passive ability that transfers 15% of their stats to their owner. Legendary companions will also have the ability to revive themselves after being downed for 10-15 seconds, making them more self-sufficient and reliable in combat.

With this level cap increase comes a new tier of greatness to strive towards. Adventurers can expect to encounter amazing new challenges both lurking in dungeons and awaiting them in PvP combat.